Permadeath imo is somewhat a weird challenge to want to complete. Cause all you end up doing is playing super cautiously.

My philosophy is it's a game, it's the one place you can do things without caution. The feeling of nearly dieing or being in risky situations is thrilling and what I like to experience in games. Heading right into battle and being victorious by the skin of your teeth or taking on overwhelming odds but still kicking ass is when it's at imo.

I've done some very challenging runs, no static base, no farming, no portal, no cauldron, only raft, only meadows gear and now I'm doing no map, but I've avoided permadeath for those reasons mentioned. There's consequence for death in game and that spurs my thrill on enough.